Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

6 reviews

simplyammee's review against another edition

mysterious tense

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Rape, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit and Medical content

For anyone who needs info on the rape trigger

it's statutory rape that the author makes clear the MC initiated. Still SR obviously but it's not on page, only mentioned historically and isn't violent. About as consensual as SR can be (a 15 year old who asks the guy to buy her beer can't properly consent but again the MC seeks the guy out and initiated)

deshanejt's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Somewhat convoluted, but still very good! It definitely had you guessing. Perfect who-dunnit.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Rape, and Self harm

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Pregnancy

tifftastic87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

OMG this BOOK! I am obsessed. 

Naomi, Liv and Cass have been friends since they were five and Cass decided they would all be friends. The summer when they were all eleven everything changed with Naomi near fatally stabbed and her and her friends putting away the serial killer that did it. The story jumps forward to Naomi, now 33, still dealing with her trauma and returning to her home town and her friends. We unpeel the layers slowly and go back in time to relive that summer and experience what really happened through Naomi's eyes. Small town drama, PTSD, and lies stacking on lies shape the tale we experience. 

Without spoilers this was the most twists in a book I have experienced in a while. I thought I knew what was happening and then I thought I was wrong and then I thought I was right again and then it turned out I was half right. I hit a point where I would have died or killed for Naomi. The story was constantly moving to the next plot point but still giving us a full feel of the characters involved. It was a perfect balance that I really enjoyed. 

Trauma and PTSD were handled really well and with care. I appreciated how themes were discussed in a way that wasn't self-indulgent or just straight up trauma porn, actually Marshall seemed to call out authors who are solely focused on that through the use of Naomi's boyfriend in the beginning. We get this sentence, among others about him, that allowed me to instantly know who he was. 

 The trouble was he’d mistaken drama for virtue and suffering for art, and felt impoverished by his own good fortune. 

He, Mitch, spends his spare time writing stories using Naomi's trauma as the center of the story. He is convinced she needs to use her trauma to sell her art instead of photographing weddings and this results in some pretty heated arguments. She says he was an asshole, she knew he was an asshole and so did he. But she was only comfortable dating assholes, someone she could never attach to - been there girl. But when she goes home to gather her things in the middle of the book there is a scene that reveals his true nature, and some of hers. 

 What the hell just happened? I should have just fucked him so he could feel like he was helping. 

When she doesn't allow him to sleep with her, he kind of loses it and kicks her out. After he promised her he wouldn't try anything. So, he's also that kind of asshole. One of the best parts, for me, was her overcoming these choices. She never shies away from it being why she does it:

 Every man I’d slept with had been a mistake of one kind or another. The mistake was the point. You couldn’t let someone in without it breaking you, but you could choose the way you broke. 

But she seems finally ready to move on from that. It just kind of made the story for me. We got so much of the character development inside this twisted story where you never know who is good and who is bad and the main character herself is morally gray and unreliable. 

Hard recommend, but check the content warnings first. 

Some more thoughts on little girls being absolutely feral forest goblins: https://youtu.be/AMY_324xjfQ?si=d5ABP_BHxWypgJOs

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Biphobia, Cursing, Drug use, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

robin_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Whoever recommended this on BookTok: Thank You! I needed a good murder mystery thriller with secrets and characters that weren’t bland and gaslit themselves into the most ridiculous situations. 
Could the character have been a bit smarter about somethings? Sure. But then the story wouldn’t have been this amazing. 
It’s the first time in a long while that I couldn’t predict the outcome of a mystery book. I’m here for it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

jillianalice's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This was a wild ride. For the last 1/4 of the book I was reacting out loud and trying not to read ahead because I was on the edge of my seat. I am newer to the thriller-mystery genre so I did not see the last plot twist coming, and I loved it. I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen/what had happened and then more was revealed. I also like that the characters were well fleshed out because sometimes that isn’t a focus in this genre. 

I would say this book is medium paced. I read the first half over a couple days. There are other storylines so it takes a bit to get into, but I really enjoyed the storylines. The last half I read within a couple hours— it was addicting. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy